Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Whatever you might expect, you will get something else. Master & Commander is like a James Ivory film on the water. There’s no epic story, no action, no grand heroes. The film is rather a psychological excursion into the lives of the crew of an old warship, their interpersonal conflicts and the rules that they have to follow. The brightest scene in a war movie would be a successful final battle. In this film, it’s an insect collection belonging to a wounded doctor on a tropical island. The cinematography is beautiful, portraying the individual characters in dozens of detailed nuances. Russell Crowe appears on the screen and you immediately idolize him. And you form a relationship with the other main characters as if you have known them for years. Peter Weir is an extraordinary director. (13/11/2003)

I can't even believe how sensitively such a one-sided issue can be portrayed. For two hours, I wanted to serve on the Surprise under the perfect captain Crowe and fight for England. It's a shame that the script can't adapt to Weir's fantastic directing and sometimes slips into completely unnecessary twists, like in the case of the superstition about Jonah. (17/07/2007)

Thanks to the engaging filmmaking and realistic setting, I can safely say: I was there with them. On the ship during the storm, during the battles and during the moments of relaxation, and I was not bored at all. In the opening battle I was thrown into the whirlwind of the action, with blood, sweat and tears at my fingertips, during the scene with the crashing my ship was being tossed from side to side, and on the Galapagos I relaxed with the Doctor to the strains of the double bass and it was enjoyable. If Weir wanted to show a detailed portrait of life on an English battleship, he succeeded. If he wanted to make an adventure story, he certainly didn't miss. And certainly not with this select ensemble of actors. I believed Crowe and Bettany and their captain and doctor, respectively, every second. And by the way, do you want to know how a scarecrow can help win a naval battle? Then don't hesitate with this film. (30/06/2004)

I can't remember the last time I found out before the movie climaxed that I had barely been breathing. It had to be a long time ago, and it had to be for a movie similar to Master and Commander. This is a wonderful callback to old times, robust filmmaking with a clear vision, precise leadership and superbly put together dramatic layers. Peter Weir has commanding skills and the steadfastness of captain Jack, but he also remains an analytical observer like Dr. Stephen. The way individual characters are built, and the way chemistry is maintained by the crew, should be in a cinematic tactics textbook. In a few minutes, a person is on board and participates in a cruise that is both informative, exciting and emotional. Moreover, Weir's typical dualities of small and large universes are reflected here, when war, politics, and science are all reflected in the relationships and conversations of the characters, without the film sliding into any exaggerated philosophizing. Everything's just right, and the dust won't get wet despite the thunderous runtime. This blew off my main mast. Huzzah! (and the second part, from what Peter Weir told us, is not utopia). (02/04/2011)

In terms of its production quality, Master & Commander is a spellbindingly impressive project that’s beautifully anachronistic in relation to the trends of the time when it was released. Because of that, however, it inevitably fell short of box-office expectations and failed to become the start of a film franchise, but that doesn’t change the fact that its qualities have stood the test of time. Especially today, when digital effects have long since lost their wow effect, the stubborn authenticity on display here is breathtaking in its immediacy and physicality. In line with the book series whose name the film bears, the narrative focuses on depicting the battleship as an organism and all aspects of life throughout the hierarchy of its crew. To heighten the drama, the individual peripeteias represent the best of the events of the naval battles. The ingeniously constructed screenplay flawlessly connects the two storylines. To the same effect, the individual cut sequences and dolly shots help to map the topography of the ship while constantly illustrating the real dimension of both ordinary tasks and the chaos of battle. (22/07/2023)